KOCHI: The Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala (RBDCK) has initiated talks with the Naval Armament Depot (NAD) in connection with the extension of the Seaport-Airport Road. The NAD had demanded a two-lane road or flyover on their vicinity in place of the 2.75 hectares of land they have to surrender for the expansion work. According to an RBDCK official, talks are being held with NAD officials and a Detailed Project Report (DPR) on the additional expense incurred for the project will be submitted before the government soon.
“The NAD had demanded road widening. A joint instruction has been issued to R BDCK and NAD to move forward with the project. The DPR will be ready soon while the proposal for compensating HMT for their land had already been submitted,” said an RBDCK official. The HMT has to surrender 1.63 hectares for the project for which they will be paid a compensation of `16 crore. The amount will be handed over once it is approved by the Finance Department.
These decisions were taken at the high-level meeting convened by the Minister for Public Works G Sudhakaran last month.
The extension work is being carried out in three phases. The stretch from HMT to NAD, NAD to Mahilalayam and Mahilayalayam to Chowara. The third stretch has been completed while the other two are under progress.
The total cost of completing the work along the 14km stretch is estimated to around 650 crores.